


Clever Girl

by gillyAnne



Series: The Lioness, the Leopard and the Wardrobe [2]
Category: The Fall (TV 2013), The X-Files
Genre: F/F, Glasses, scully in glasses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 02:33:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19347745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gillyAnne/pseuds/gillyAnne
Summary: Short story of Stella's first time seeing Scully in glasses.





	Clever Girl

Audio version available on the Audio Fanfic Podcast [here.](https://soundcloud.com/audiofanficpod/xfthe-fall-clevergirl-by-gillyanne?in=audiofanficpod/sets/works-by-gillyanne)

 

The first time Stella saw Scully wearing glasses it nearly caused second-degree burns as she stopped dead in her tracks, spilling the hot tea she’d just made over the edges of the cup onto her hands and the floor. ‘Jesus,’ she cursed.

Scully looked up from her position on the couch where she’d been tucked away reading a book, one foot buried underneath her as the other stood on the couch bent at the knee. She raised her eyebrows, quickly throwing her book to the side and jumping up to assist. ‘Careful,’ she warned, taking the offending cup from her to put it on the side table. ‘What are you doing?’

Stella looked at her sternly, licking her lips before turning towards her kitchen to rinse her hand. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

‘What?’ Scully asked, genuinely baffled. ‘Did you trip?’

‘I don’t. Trip,’ Stella emphasized with a hushed voice as she held her hand under the water. Scully cleared up the mess Stella had left on the floor, just missing her carpet, before sitting back down and opening her book again. ‘Then what?’

Stella slightly shook her head, ignoring the question. She still did not understand the power this quiet creature held, this perfect inability to be aware of exactly what she was doing to Stella. It scared Stella, it always had, but with Dana Stella had chosen to see it as curiosity rather than fear. A lot of things frightened Stella Gibson. She wouldn’t let Dana be one of them.

Stella allowed the water to cool her skin for a few minutes before stubbornly turning it off and joining Scully on the couch. ‘That wasn’t twenty minutes, or even ten,’ Scully told her. ‘I know,’ Stella replied. ‘It’s not that bad.’ Scully folded her book again and took Stella’s hand, carefully examining the skin that already looked redder than it should. With methodical precision she moved her fingertips over the edges of Stella’s burns, cataloguing the injury, assessing her patient. ‘You practically poured boiling water over your skin,’ Scully stated, ‘you should allow it to cool a bit longer.’ Stella took the opportunity to study this version of Dana Scully up close. She had seen the glasses before, she realized, just never actually *on* Scully. The slender gold frame reminded her of tinsel, or sunshine caught in a diamond ring.

The clear, thin glasses made Dana’s eyes shine and Stella thought she looked incredibly young. A pair of deep sea blue eyes was intently studying her hand and Stella felt her heart contract almost painfully at the care Dana was giving her. Dana looked so youthful, so open and clear that Stella was reminded rudely of the love she once felt but had to let go of – so many times where she’d felt almost normal, almost accepted, but then something had happened and she’d pulled back, hurt, defeated, until a switch had been flicked and she’d become someone else. Dana had changed that – and Stella just hoped she knew that. Her thoughts wandered beyond what she wanted to allow them, into the territory of their future which was always undecided, always unknown, every second new and hopeful but also edged with the destruction that lingered in both their pasts. Stella was used to knowing what came next. If she didn’t she wasn’t at ease. Her spirit was still learning to trust her heart, and so was her brain – One always wanted to flee, another always wanted to ask Dana to flee, but somehow she always stayed. And she occasionally asked Dana to stay, too. Doctor Dana, who was currently devoting her full attention to her, so much more than she thought she needed or deserved.

Dana of course picked up on Stella’s mood, she always did. She allowed her fingers to caress past Stella’s damaged skin and up to her wrist bone, trying to search out her eyes as she felt Stella look away. ‘Hey,’ she said softly, ‘You ok?’ Stella nodded. ‘Feels much better, you’re a good doctor,’ she half joked. ‘I didn’t do anything,’ Scully said defeated. ‘And I didn’t mean your hand.’ Stella sighed. ‘I know. You reminded me of something, that’s all.’

‘Good things, I hope,’ Scully smiled uncertainly, unsure as to what was going on with Stella as her eyes were gentle but unreadable. ‘Hmm,’ Stella just responded. Scully gave up on trying to get her to talk and found her book again, settling into the back of the couch next to Stella. She saw Stella turn from the corner of her eye and her feet appeared next to Dana’s legs on the couch as Stella pulled her knees up to her chin. Dana felt Stella’s eyes almost burn through her skin. She tried to look undistracted, failed, and a smile appeared in the corner of her mouth as she allowed Stella to witness her cheeks blush. Stella propped her elbow up on the back of the couch, combing her hair through her fingers. ‘What?’ Stella asked innocently. Scully lightly shook her head, causing one lock of hair to come undone from the updo she was sporting.

Stella tried not to reach out. She really did.

However her hands no longer listened to her brain, they’d lost that ability when the tea had spilled and melted it to the floor along with the drops of English Breakfast that had stubbornly freed itself from Stella’s grasp. Dana Scully wearing glasses was both the sweetest and sexiest thing Stella had ever witnessed and it made her want to hug her all day and fuck her through tomorrow. Her body felt warm at Dana’s bright, knowledgeable and caring eyes and Stella watched helplessly as she saw her own hand come up. She took the tumble of red between two fingers and carefully adjusted it to the wild waves that framed the side of Dana’s head. Dana felt Stella’s caress along the shell of her ear, tender and soft and so full of meaning. Something was definitely going on. She turned her head to meet Stella’s eyes and found her looking intensely and directly at her, but her eyes seemed miles away. Scully searched Stella’s eyes calmly, trying to connect with her, trying to find that spark she knew was there. Stella wasn’t a talker. She was a listener sometimes, but right now she seemed to need someone to do both – and Scully knew how to do both. ‘We’ll keep an eye on it,’ she advised quietly, her voice void of any professionalism as she found that one step too far. ‘I might have something on me for burns, I’ll check later. If it bothers you, we can go get something tomorrow…’ ‘Dana,’ Stella interrupted.

Scully quieted as she saw Stella’s expression warm up a bit as her lips curled into a smile.

‘I’m okay,’ Stella assured her. ‘Really, it’s nothing.’

Stella did this thing often. She said something, but she meant so much more. She would wrap up all the hard words and disguise them as something else, as a seemingly small comment, or a touch, or an action, but none were lost on Scully. This was one of those times, Dana knew – it was all there in the way Stella’s blink seemed to slow down the world.

‘It’s the glasses, isn’t it,’ Scully said softly, suddenly realizing Stella must have never seen her wear them before.

A smirk played with the edges of Stella’s mouth.

‘Clever girl,’ Stella purred as she pulled herself up, leaned in and took the slender legs of Scully’s glasses between nimble fingers to slide them off the curve of Scully’s nose. Scully scrunched her nose as it came free and Stella folded the glasses neatly, putting it on the table on top of Scully’s book. She leaned in and kissed her hard, pushing Scully back into the couch with her body. ‘You should wear them more often,’ Stella whispered into Scully’s lips. ‘I used to,’ Scully formed a somewhat articulate reply between Stella’s kisses. ‘But I…’ ‘Sshh,’ Stella interrupted her and framed her face with both hands before softly kissing her again. Scully felt Stella’s lips tremble beneath hers and wondered for a moment why she seemed to be feeling this so deeply. Stella’s fingers buried themselves in Scully’s hair, combing it loose, cradling it like gold thread as she kissed her fully and completely. Dana felt Stella’s abandon and it called for her own, so she leaned back and pulled Stella onto he lap to straddle her. Scully pulled Stella’s blouse from her pants and let her fingers explore the soft warmth of Stella’s lower back. Stella slowly broke the kiss and sat back, letting her misty grey gaze wander all across Scully’s face. ‘Thank you for taking care of me,’ Stella managed. Scully saw something rise within Stella, coming from deep down, howling to the surface as Stella’s eyes reddened and her lip quivered again. ‘Kiss me,’ Scully just asked and Stella smiled through unshed tears in another moment of gratitude. Scully took Stella’s lips between hers this time, framing her fingers to Stella’s spine and holding her close. She absorbed every tremble that came from the woman in her arms, trying to shelter her, trying to tell her – She needn’t fear her feelings for Dana. Dana just hoped she knew that, and that she’d allow herself to believe it someday.

Stella abandoned Scully’s lips for her jawline, placing soft kisses along the hollow of her cheek up to her cheekbone. ‘Stella,’ Scully warned on a laugh, slightly ticklish and not entirely unaffected by Stella’s emotion. Stella leaned back and sighed deeply. ‘Yes?’

Scully had no answer. She didn’t know what to say so she played a card from Stella’s book – observe. She watched Stella’s exhale leave her body, she watched as Stella slowly dropped her hands down Scully’s neck, shoulders and arms to finally land on her forearms. Scully pulled back to hold Stella’s hands in hers, still just looking at her, allowing herself to be looked at. Stella squeezed Scully’s hands softly before reaching for her glasses again, unfolding them methodically and very carefully sliding them back on Scully’s nose. ‘There,’ she said, grabbing the book and folding it back onto the page where Scully had left it. Scully took the book from Stella and allowed her to unfold herself from her position, settling in her previous position on the couch with one hand up along the back.

‘Read to me,’ Stella said softly, and Scully pushed her glasses further up her nose with one finger. She smiled shyly and cleared her throat. ‘Okay,’ she said as she found the paragraph where she’d left off.

She dared to look in Stella’s direction one last time. What she saw gave her the courage to go on, not just with reading but with everything that they’d been doing – Next to her sat Stella Gibson, the sometimes-listener, her sometimes-open book, her girlfriend - listening intently to every syllable while a solitary tear found its path quietly down her slightly flushed cheek.


End file.
